Kicking And Screaming
by BoOkWoRm4ALLbOoKs
Summary: Charlotte "Charlie" has been fighting for her and her younger brother's lives since long before the apocalypse. What exactly will the cost of survival be? And is life on the run really living? Rated M for gore, and eventual lemons.
1. Chapter 1: Kicking and Screaming

**A/N- This is my second ever fan fiction, my last one started and ended with 1 chapter because it didn't get any response, and to be fair, I just kind of lost interest in it. **

**I am a published author, but I will not claim to be amazing. I would have not publish if I did not have my editors and writing consultants. All of those people I do not have with this fan fiction, which is why This is not perfectly done. There is typo's, misspelled words, and the story line may not be exactly what you want to see. I thank you for reading my story anyway. Feel free to leave comments if you wish, I don't mind a few flames. **

**So, being the ever sheltered me, I didn't really ever watch TV. I grew up in a library. Recently my local library got a comics section, and there was "The Walking Dead" Comic books. I had never been into zombie literature, and until recently they scared me out of my wits. After a little reading of the comic books, and discovering that there was a TV show for it, I had a weeklong binge on it. I instantly fell in love with the character of Daryl Dixon. I majored in theater arts, so I know a good actor and character when I see one. I recently heard a rumor that he might find love in season 5, but I also heard he was one of the people going to die in season 5. So this is my take on how I hoped his character would find love and life in season 5... based entirely off the song "Pocahontas Proud" by Gretchen Wilson.**

**I am looking for a beta, btw.**

Chapter 1 - Kicking and Screaming

Charlie was exhausted.

She was hungry too.

But most of all, she was sick of biters.

"Can we take a break?"

The question came from behind her. She stopped and looked back along the tracks at her group members. Henry and his wife Grace, The college boys Jacob and Steve, and her little brother James. All of them were dirty, weeks of not bathing did that to you. Surveying the area, and seeing no biters, she nodded.

"Looks safe enough for now"

James literally dropped where he had been standing. Sighing. Everyone sat down, took drinks, ate a little of what was left of the food they had scavenged. Charlie stayed standing, her bow still notched with an arrow and kept a look out. James ,at her feet, pulled out his water bottle, which now, was nearly empty. They hadn't had the chance to get more water, as a few days ago they had to outrun a horde. They had lost Jacob's little sister Caitlyn to it. He sipped it a bit then offered it to Charlie, who shook her head. It was about that time that she heard it, the low snarl of a biter. She saw it out of the corner of her eye, materializing out of the woods, two more behind it.

"Time to go." She declared. Everyone quickly packed their bags again and continued walking along the tracks.

Only after about an hour, and the biters long behind them, did they slow down. The tracks never seemed to end.

"How much farther till we reach this "Terminus"?" Charlie asked, stopping and looking at Henry.

"We should be nearly there."

So they kept walking.

Henry was right, it wasn't that far, only another hour or so. As soon as the large place came into view, they entered the woods. Circling around it. Nothing seemed out of place, except for the few biters milling about, which were easily dispatched. Watching from the woods they studied it.

"Do we go in? Check it out?" Steve offered up.

"What if it is a ploy?" Grace countered, her voice starting to show the signs of her age. She would 70 soon.

" All who arrive, Survive? Does that sound like a ploy to you?" Jacob rebuffed.

"She is right though. We can't just all walk in if it is a trap." Charlie said surveying the area.

"So two of us go in, and if all is well, come back for the others. Steve, Charlie? You are our fastest, and most efficient in a fight." Henry gave us each an expectant look.

"Against Biters, I don't think I could kill a human being if it came down to it." Steve said looking at the ground.

"I'll go alone then. I have already killed, so if it comes down to it, pulling the trigger won't be a problem." Charlie sighed. "But you all need to be somewhere safe enough for the next few days, just in case there is a problem."

"What about that house we saw back a few miles? We can clear any biters, barricade ourselves in one of the rooms?" James asked. Charlie thought about it for a minute.

"That would work. You guys head there now, I will wait a few minutes before I check the place out." Charlie turned to James, " You stay safe, no freezing, or putting yours or anyone else's life in danger."

"I know," he said hugging her, " You do the same please. Fight for your life if you get into trouble"

Charlie smiled "Don't I always?"

The group gave her their goodbyes, and left. Charlie stayed crouched down looking at the ominous town. Her hunting knife drawn. Her bow was around her torso. Just as she was about to leave she heard the sounds of a Biter, and decided that if the place had guards, they would be more open to someone running from a biter, than a lone warrior. She waited for it to get closer then began to back up out of the clearing, letting it get within reaching distance. She punched it, its decaying mushy face, which might have once belonged to a middle aged guy slightly broke away as the punch followed through. The biter seemed only slightly deterred by the attack, reaching for her again, but by that time, Charlie was moving towards Terminus. She broke out into a full run, wanting to seem as helpless as she could to the new town. She was nearly there when she heard gunfire, looking behind her, she saw the biter on the ground, most of its head missing. She looked up searching the roof's for the shooter. She found him, still pointing his gun, this time at her. She raised her arms.

"I'm not infected!" She yelled. The sniper kept the gun pointed at her, but put it down after a minute. She took the opportunity to walk slowly to the rusted gate, through it, and into the town.

Charlie's nose was greeted with what smelled to be cooking meat, which made her stomach growl even more than it already was, but it didn't smell like any meat she had ever smelled. The place was clean, flowers sat it planted pots. Making note of the building, alleyways and possible escape routes, she walked farther into the town. turning a corner she was greeted with a large courtyard with people milling about. A friendly looking red head was behind a large grill, smiling.

"Hi I'm Mary. You look like you have been on the road a while."

Charlie continued surveying the people, there was some odd clothing choices, a poncho, body armor, shiny jewelry, but everyone seemed fairly normal, no one was on the aggressive. She finally turned back to the red headed woman.

"I have."

"Well, let's fix you up a plate then, then we will give you the tour. Welcome to Terminus." She made to grab a plate and put the funny smelling meat on it. Charlie wasn't going to eat it, not till she knew what it was.

"Thanks, but I am not really that hungry."

"Alright then. Let me grab Gareth, and get you set up then." I nodded. I sat down on one of the chairs strewn about the courtyard, waiting. A few people came up and introduced themselves. Mary returned with a 20's something man with dark brown hair.

"Hello, I am Gareth. You are?"

"Charlie."

"Nice to meet you Charlie. Would you mind laying down your weapons for me? Just a precaution." He said. Maybe it was the question, but she didn't like the way he looked at her when he said that. Never the less she complied. She laid her bow and quiver carefully on the ground, her hunting knife and the 357 Magnum on the ground. Mary took Gareth's place in front of her then.

"Just a precaution dear." She said. Charlie raised her arms, and prayed to whatever was out there that she wouldn't feel the throwing knife that was holster on her pack. Mary's arms patted her sleeves, sides, and around her waist , legs and boots, but not her back.

"She is clean." Mary smiled then picked up the Magnum and handed it back to Charlie. Gareth smiled as well.

"Let's start the tour then shall we?" He said turning away. Charlie quickly holstered all her weapons and followed.

The tour was fairly simple, housing, living ect. Nothing of consequence really stood out, but that didn't mean she hadn't memorized every nook and cranny they passed. The tour then began to lead to towards the fences.

"The fences are watched constantly, we have four people stationed on the roof at any one time, Al was one of who you saw earlier." Charlie nodded. Despite the first few rough patches, the place seemed alright. They approached a single boxcar, in the distance she could see a couple more.

"What's in those?" She said pointing.

"Storage mostly, We have another one a little further outside of the fences for prisoners. A night hearing walkers trying to get at you is usually enough to end any criminal activity."

"Walkers?"

"Yeah, you know the undead things that try to eat you?" She snorted. Dropping the question and looking around. They could make it work, they could be -

Gareth grabbed her from behind, his hand over her mouth. Out of nowhere, some of the men she met earlier rushed the pair, grabbing her arms and legs, trying to subdue her. She did the first thing she could do to get one of the men off her. She opened her mouth wider, which Gareth's fingers over her mouth didn't seem to expect. She bit down hard, and heard a scream.

Her mouth was filled with the taste of blood but she clenched down harder, feeling bone separate from Bone. Gareth stumbled back, clutching his hand, which was now missing two fingers. The two other men trying to subdue her quit messing with appendages and went straight for the face. She would defiantly have a shiner tomorrow. Unfortunately for Charlie, she wasn't the best in close combat. She kicked and screamed, they had thrown her bow to the ground the quiver, ripped off her back. One had her legs, another had her hand, clenched in which was the fingers she had bitten off Gareth's hand. She kicked and screamed as they dragged her towards the box car she had seen earlier. A third person joined the fray, opening the door to the boxcar pointing a gun inside. The two men literally chucked her into the boxcar, she rolled into the far wall. Getting to her feet as quickly as she could, she drew her knife, only to see the door close and for her to be left in mostly darkness.

"Shit." was all she could say. She looked around and saw a few shadows hiding in the corners of the boxcar. Had that man been keeping walkers at bay? Did they throw her into the car to be food? She could fight them, but the chances of not being bit in such an enclosed space, and not being able to see properly, were very low. But there wasn't any noise like what she would normally hear. It didn't stop her from getting into an aggressive stance, knife ready to lodge itself into any brain. The figures shuffled towards her, the closer they got the better she could see them. A curly haired man with sunken cheeks, A black woman, a ginger, an Asian, a redneck, a kid, and a couple others. The curly haired man stopped a couple of feet from her. She raised the knife a little higher, warning him to even try to come closer.

"I'm Rick" He said." Do you want to put that away so we can talk? We aren't the enemy"

**A/N**

**Well, tell me what you think. There were a few parts I just wasn't sure how to go about. Thanks guys.**


	2. Chapter 2: Sweet as Sugar

**A/N- So thank you to the two people whom reviewed, you were very encouraging.**

**As I am writing this it is June 7th, which means it is my Birthday. My best friend got me a Daryl Poster which now hangs above my bed. **

**This chapter will be short, because I honestly don't have time to write it the way I want to. I may edit it later to be longer, or may leave it how it is and continue the story, I really don't know yet. I am thinking about turning this story into 3 separate stories, kind of like seasons. **

**I will be trying to update this at least every 2-3 days. **

**Thank you guys for your support, it is always appreciated. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the walking dead, except my original characters, which if you want to use them, I call dibs on playing Charlie. The things she has coming man... **

Chapter 2- Sweet as Sugar, Hard as Ice.

Previously-

_She looked around and saw a few shadows hiding in the corners of the boxcar. Had that man been keeping walkers at bay? Did they throw her into the car to be food? She could fight them, but the chances of not being bit in such an enclosed space, and not being able to see properly, were very low. But there wasn't any noise like what she would normally hear. It didn't stop her from getting into an aggressive stance, knife ready to lodge itself into any brain. The figures shuffled towards her, the closer they got the better she could see them. A curly haired man with sunken cheeks, A black woman, a ginger, an Asian, a redneck, a kid, and a couple others. The curly haired man stopped a couple of feet from her. She raised the knife a little higher, warning him to even try to come closer. _

_"I'm Rick" He said." Do you want to put that away so we can talk? We aren't the enemy"_

"Any of you infected?" She nearly hissed, she was really not in the mood to negotiate right now.

"No." Rick answered looking around. His arms were out , clearly on the defensive. "We got tricked into this same as you, can you please put the knife down so that we can have a civilized discussion?" He was slowly inching toward her, the small foot movements didn't escape her.

"No. I don't know you, which means I don't trust you. Why don't you go back to your corner, then maybe we can talk." She replied, side stepping away from the wall. The better the stance, the better the chance of throwing off an attack.

"Okay, Alright, I can do that." Rick said, stepping back ever so slightly. Charlie didn't even start to lower her knife, even took a step forward, daring him to make a move. He stepped back again, looking like he was going to turn around.

Instead he lunged, one hand reaching for her wrist with the knife the other for her side, going to try to get her to drop the weapon. Total cop move, and one she could certainly reciprocate. She had trained for this, before the world went to shit.

Side stepping, the hand reaching for her wrist went wildly nowhere, while the hand reaching for side was caught in her own. She twisted it backwards, kicking the back of his knees out so that he was on the floor one hand behind his back, the other pinned under her knee. The knife was pressed against his throat. Several of the others moved to help him.

"Anyone moves I slit his neck! See here, officer friendly, I ain't to be taken lightly. Now, you goin to listen and stay away on your side of the tracks?" Rick nodded his head into the floor, Charlie pressed the knife a little harder onto the back of his neck before getting off him. Charlie stepped back, as the Redneck and the Asian lifted rick up and back to the side of the box car. The Redneck turned around, Ricks arm still around his neck.

"You better watch yourself girly." Charlie snorted at the comment.

Keeping an eye on the other side of the box car, Charlie started checking the box car for possible exits. To her complete frustration there wasn't any. The door was locked from the outside, and there wasn't a way to open it from the inside. Giving the wall an anger releasing punch, she sat down, trying to figure a way out of this situation.

Wait for them to come get her? Fight her way out? No they had managed to subdue her once, they had the muscle to do it again.

See where the situation leads? They might be cannibals, the risk was too high.

James, shit, she couldn't leave him alone in this world, she wouldn't, not again.

Her ears perked up, hearing whispering on the other side of the box car. The enclosed space made the whispers quite clear.

"well, what the hell do we do. There ain't no way out of this box?" That must if been the Asian.

"This isn't it, it can't be. We went through hell to get here." That voice was female.

"Just get me outta this damned box. I ain't dying in a cage." That was the redneck.

The whispering went on for quite a while. The little light that was in the boxcar slowly got to be non-existence, signaling night had fallen. The other side of the boxcar got quite, some snoring started. They must have fallen asleep. Charlie was tired, but she wasn't about to be caught off guard. Fat luck that wishful thinking did her.

"You got a name girly?" Charlie jumped at the voice. It was the redneck, must not be able to sleep either.

"Does it matter?"

"We may be stuck in here together for a while. Either we will die, or we live. Either way, some decent conversation would be nice." His voice was rough, as if he didn't really want to talk, but was forcing himself. Charlie sighed.

"Okay." There was a moment of silence, like he almost wished she would start the conversation. When it became obvious she wouldn't be, he asked.

"You been traveling alone?"

"Not the whole time. You?"

"Been with these guys from the start. Lost a lot of people."

" It happens. Why did you come here?"

"Probably same reason as you. Sanctuary. Tired of being on the run."

"Yeah..."

"You from around here?"

"No, Tennessee."

"Georgia, born and raised."

"Born in Tennessee, raised on the road" Silence for a moment after that.

"How exactly does that work?"He asked.

"Don't matter now, does it?"

"No, I guess not. How did-" He was cut off by loud taps on the Box Car. Everyone was awake now, they could hear laughing outside the metal walls. A few minutes later the silence occurred again. People slowly drifted back to sleep. It was quiet, but Charlie could hear him say.

"Name's Daryl." That was an unusual name. Charlie wasn't sure if she should answer, or pretend to have fallen asleep as well. After a few minutes of Silence, she shifted and sighed.

"Charlie. Call me Charlie."

**A/N- I really need you guys to tell me if she is a believable character. I am trying to hint at her characters back-story rather than blabbing on about it. Still debating whether or not I am going to edit this chapter. If I do, I will let you know at the beginning of next chapter's authors note. Enjoy, and Happy Birthday to me! **


	3. Chapter 3: Wild

**A/N- I looked at my story manager before I started writing this and was shocked that there was over 100 views! It was quite a nice feeling. **

**So, Just have to confess that today has been an absolutely horrible day. Being an adult sucks, its constantly a lose-lose situation. **

**Anyway, I have a Tumbler dedicated to my fanfictions and other postings, it is under the same pen name I posted this story under so check it out. Not much on it yet seeing as I just started out...**

**Anyway, enjoy the chapter. I apologize for it being late... I was spending time with my sister, who leaves on her second tour tomorrow. I haven't left her side in days. Also, My grandfather died today... so yeah. **

**Disclaimer- I own nothing of the walking dead, except my original Characters. **

Chapter 3- Wild

_Previously- _

_"Name's Daryl." That was an unusual name. But not for a redneck. Charlie wasn't sure if she should answer, or pretend to have fallen asleep as well. After a few minutes of Silence, she shifted and sighed. _

_"Charlie. Call me Charlie." _

The Box Car got quiet after that. Charlie didn't think he had fallen had asleep, but he didn't offer anymore up in terms of conversation. Not willing to sleep herself, not with a bunch of strangers, Charlie took inventory of herself. She had a pulled a muscle in her leg fighting. When they had grabbed her they left her with her knife, the one she kept in her boot. Her bow and her gun was gone however. So was her pocket knife. Her stomach growled, it had been a long time since she had eaten. She mentally kicked herself for not eating a little bit when they had stopped on the tracks. She needed to get out of here. Her brother, her group, would only stay at that house for a couple of days, and that was if they didn't run into trouble. She wasn't going to lose her brother. Not again.

Hours of silence passed by, almost to the point where Charlie thought sleeping to pass the time was a good idea. Slowly but surely light began to filter its way back into the box car, she could begin to make out the outline of Daryl, who was sitting with his back to the box car, eyes closed, obviously asleep. Another, the Asian, stirred. He sat up from where he had been laying, and seemed to do a once over of the group. In the distance there was the phlegmy cry of a walker, which woke Daryl up. He blinked a few times and looked around. After looking at his group, he looked up to where Charlie had been sitting, where she was watching him cautiously.

"You stay up all night?" Daryl asked. The Asian turned to him as if wondering if the question was directed at him.

"Yes." Was all Charlie replied. Looking away towards the wall. Daryl only gave a "Huh" before the silence set in again. Soon the rest of the bodies began to stir, and the discussions went on.

Their topics ranged from guerilla attacks ( How would that work? They were locked in a box.) to overtaking whomever came for them, to just giving up (Ain't going to happen).

The box car, being in the direct sun, got hotter as the day went on, but thanks to it being winter, it was actually quite comfortable. Charlie wasn't freezing cold like she had been the past couple of weeks. It was like God was laughing at her. "You are going to die, but at least you won't die freezing."

Once it was light enough, Charlie checked the walls again , the ceiling, finally the area around the door. There were a couple of large screws. Taking out her knife, she was about to try to turn them when the was a loud bang on the side of the box car.

"Everyone back away from the door, and no one get shot. Try anything we kill you. Don't be stupid people." That was Garreth.

Sliding the Knife back into her boot, Charlie moved to the opposite side of the box car from everyone else. The others had grouped together, The little boy behind everyone else. Daryl motioned his head to her, to have her join them. She just shook her head. The door slid open with a loud groan, the barrel of a gun was the first thing to appear through the door. Followed by a man, another man with a gun, and finally Garreth. His hand was bandaged, it was very obvious that he was missing his middle and Index finger on his right hand. There was no Charismatic smile today, no, today was a look of anger.

"Now, all you are here, because you wanted shelter right? Wrong. You are here, because you wanted to take control of our people, and kill us all. So, you have-"

"What the hell are you talking about? Kill people? No we actually wanted shelter!" The short brown haired girl interrupted.

"DON'T LIE! It's what people say, then they kill someone, one of us. We stopped letting people in for a while, but we started running out of food. We were starving and there was only a few of us left. Someone came, an outsider, and I had the brilliant idea- walkers eat people, so why shouldn't we? And it worked, we were all fed, and healthy. No one tried to harm us anymore, because we don't give them the chance!" Garreth little tirade almost seemed like he was trying to convince himself of it. It was quiet in the box car, the only sounds were of the noises outside and breathing. No one spoke. Until the Large, Muscular red head did.

"Is your brain full of cats? You special or something? Because that is plain fucked up."

"Talk again, you get eaten first." Was Garreth only reply. Looking around his eyes rested on Charlie.

"You."

"Me."

"You bit my fingers off you bitch." Charlie smirked. Putting her hand in her pocket she gripped the detached fingers.

"Aye, you want'em back?" she said tossing the fingers at him. The guards looked at the fingers in disgust, which meant they weren't paying attention to her. Drawing her knife from her boot, She grabbed the guard closest to her from behind, knife held against his throat. Stupidly the other guard swung his gun around at her. Garreth was seething.

"I was going to save you, let you watch as we ate the others, but now I think I will just throw you to the walkers! Watch them tear you to bits."

"You can try if you want." Charlie laughed. The other guard was only focused on Charlie, the distraction which Daryl used to knock the gun out of his hands, and force him into a chokehold. The curly haired man- Rick- Lunged for Garreth, effectively restraining him.

"Now, you are going to let us out of here, give us our weapons back, and we are going to walk away from this place, unharmed. Do you hear me? No one gets hurt, or I will hurt you, do you understand?" Rick growled into Garreths ear threateningly.

"You won't hurt me."

"Don't underestimate me."

The Guard that Charlie was holding tried to escape, elbowing her in the gut. Unlucky for him, it wasn't anything she was unaccustomed to. She pressed the knife closer to his throat, cutting it just a little. "Quit moving." was all she said.

"Now," Rick started, "we are going to all walk out of here. Are we going to get shot at?"

"No, there isn't anyone else out there. It wasn't supposed to down like this."

"Good."

"I'll go out first" Charlie said. No one objected. Thanks assholes.

"Walk." She told the guard. He did as she said, stepping down out of the box car she looked around. Not a single other person to be seen. "Clear."

Daryl and his captive followed her out, then Rick with Garreth. The Asian and the Red head Picked up the guns dropped by the captives, and followed the three of them out. The rest of the people came out in succession. The southern belle, the Latina, The pretty black woman, the goofy looking black man, the nerd, the tiny girl, last was the dread locked haired black woman. Well, they were out of the box, now what?

Daryl wasn't sure what was happening any more. 2 1/2 years ago he was sitting on his couch with Merle, in his crappy apartment, high as a kite, or maybe drunk, and now, here he was with the remnants of his makeshift family, his brother long dead and gone, fighting for freedom. He had gone from the outsider of the group, to for the first time in his life, someone looked up to and respected. He should have expected it to all come crashing down. Losing the prison, losing Beth, even Lil Ass Kicker. She was just a baby. But she was gone too.

He hadn't liked Joe and his group, but they were at the very least someone to trip if he had to run. But, he was sure glad that he hadn't left them when he had planned to. He had gotten a piece of his family back. Rick was his brother now, there was no denying that. And Carl, he had grown fond of the kid, even if he could be a whiny pain in the ass. Michonne was a different story. They hadn't been close, but they understood each other, she was like his kick ass little sister, maybe they were the same age, who knew? The point was, he had gotten his family back, he wasn't alone.

Then they had wandered to Terminus, and shit hit the fan. Again. They had gotten locked up in the train car. Despite the horrible circumstances, he was thrilled to see Glenn and Maggie again. Those two were survivors. Sasha and Bob were there too, which while he wasn't the biggest fan of Bob, it was still good to see them. The others he didn't know, but they didn't set off any sort of alarms. The Mexican girl starred at him too much, and the mullet man, he just looked like a weak fraud. They had been in there about two days before the girl, Charlie (Odd name for a girl) had been thrown it. Actually thrown. She was a fighter. She also was defensive. Taking down Rick in two seconds flat. Not a talker either. It had taken him getting her alone, or as alone as they could be in their current situation, to even get her name. From what he could tell in the dark light of the train car, she was small. Not particularly short, but skinny, underfed. He could hear her stomach growling at times. She looked like she came from ethnic descent, Black hair, longer face. He couldn't really see her eyes, or any other defining feature, it was too dark in the train car. But when morning came, and Garreth and his goons entered the box car, the light that spilled from the outside was enough to tell. She looked wild. There was blood on her mouth, dried now, her hair was tangled and ratty, pulled back though strands fell out . Her green eyes were wide, watching everything and everyone. When Garreth said the bit about his fingers, the blood on her mouth made sense.

He could tell she was going to jump the goon before anyone else did, so he followed suit with the other. Rick, being the leader he was, grabbed Garreth, and out of the box car we went. Charlie moved before he could, though, everyone seemed fine with sacrificing the new girl. That left them standing outside of the train car. With not a clue what to do next.

**A/N- I really do apologize for this chapter taking so long. I really really**__**will try to update sooner next time. Anyway, leave comments please and thank you. **

**I try not to dwell on my character descriptions, but if you want a really clear picture of what she looks like, just PM me. **


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